You can surrender without a prayer, but never really pray, pray without surrender
You can fight, fight without ever winning, but never ever win, win without a fight
-Lee, Lifeson and Peart

Thursday, December 23, 2004

The Countdown Begins

As all holidays have good traditions, one of mine is the last minuteshop. It is the day before Christmas Eve and I still have a fewthings to pick up. We went over the boys gift sack last night andfound while the gifts are smaller they are more expensive!!! Andwhile it looks like we got him nothing, we spent more this year thanever before, and we didn't stop at Toys R Us once!!!

My wife's family and mine celebrate differently. To me and mine wehad a few nice gifts under the tree, but it was usually the thoughtthat counts. A handmade box or $5 trinket was loved as much if notmore than the $50 Hummel. On the other hand my wife and her familyhad a tree over-flowing with gifts and while the $10 mittens werenice, they better be wrapped in a Sach's Fifth Avenue box or wrappedby Tiffany's. And that is were my wife and I have clashed these past12 Christmases.

We live the Target/Sears life while some expect the Newman/Marcusgift. We have come to a happy medium over the years and have boughtthoughtful and tasteful gifts for all our families. And when it comesdown to it we have found it is the effort of selecting the right gift,the thought you put into it and the execution of your 'gift plan' thatreally counts. Sometimes it is an expensive gift that is given andothers it is a simple but significant item to both the gifter andreceiver. One gift I will always remember is the one I gave my fatherseveral years ago. While looking in a used book store I found a boxset of The Lord of The Rings from 1966, paperback in good conditionstill with the box. The same set my father gave me in 8th grade toread, which I have beat to death and while I still have it they areheld together by tape and rubber bands. While it only cost me $4.50to buy, they actually meant something to me and him. Plus the nextyear I got him a Hand held GPS Receiver. Merry Christmas!!!!!

2 Comments:

Wow...my first set of LOTR was given to me by my uncle when I was 15 years old. I spent the summer with him in Philly and he took me to NYC where I stood at the top of the south tower of the WTC. He gave me the set before I left to go back home. He died recently, and I don't think he ever knew how much I loved those books.

Hi, As part of some work I'm doing for a client, I need to talk to people who are interested in Geocaching and who often search the web for related information. The research is mostly based around keyword ('gps receiver' for example) selection. I've contacted people using gps receiver but I need to contact more. Can you suggest where else to look?TIA